Strong Winds Cause Big Damage

Share this:

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

A line of strong storms left behind a path of damage and debris in Benton County early Monday morning.

It is the second weekend in a row damaging winds of more than 60 miles per hour flattened trees in Bella Vista.

Radonna and David Mark Selfridge awoke to what they thought was thunder at 2 a.m. on Monday.

"I heard a loud boom, and then the house shook. It sounded like a big clap of thunder,” Radonna said. “My husband came in and said it was not thunder, that a tree had actually hit the house."

A large tree smashed through the couple’s fence, landing on the side of their home and overtaking the back side of the house.

"I got up and went into the bathroom, and then I heard the house started to shake," David Mark Selfridge said. "And then I heard a big crash, and then it shook a whole lot more like an earthquake."

Leaves and branches now clutter what used to be the Selfridges' porch. Their fence is a total loss, their gutters are damaged and their back doors are completely blocked by the fallen tree.

David Mark described what his backyard looked like before the tree fell.

"There's no trees normally in the doorway and it's a nice well-mannered and kept yard. And now there's a big, huge 90-foot tree in the backyard," David Mark said.

The Selfridges described the experience as frightening. While the family understands severe weather is not uncommon in Northwest Arkansas, the family said they never expected it to hit so close to home.

"Wow, it was a little disturbing to come out and see a tree up against the door where we couldn't even open the back door,” Radonna said. “I wasn't really ready for that, I guess."

The Selfridges said the tree was not originally on their property, the remaining trunk sits on a vacant lot behind their home.

The family is still waiting on insurance adjusters to assess the damage before they begin the cleanup process.